David Olusoga says he would make a ‘terrible traitor’ on The Celebrity Traitors

TV historian David Olusoga has said he wants to be a faithful on The Celebrity Traitors as he will make a “terrible traitor”.

The 55-year-old will appear as part of a cast of 19 famous faces, including Thursday Murder Club star Celia Imrie, retired Olympic diver Tom Daley and actor Sir Stephen Fry, when the show launches on October 8.

The British-Nigerian star said: “I would like to be faithful for the simple reason, I think I’d be a terrible traitor.

“That’s mainly because of my memory; my mind is always wandering off. I think there’s a terrible risk that I’d forget that I was in deep cover, that’s the reason why I’m not a spy.

“It would be an impossible task remembering that you’re not who you’re saying you are.”

The show will see the celebrities gather in the Scottish Highlands for the chance to win a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.

Olusoga, who is known for presenting BBC history documentaries, said it will be an “enormous surprise” if he wins, adding: “I don’t think I am (a good reader of people), because I’m told I’m not by people.

“What I do think I have in my favour is that I’m quite persuasive, I can see logic, and I can build an argument and hopefully exert a strong influence at the roundtable.

“I used to play poker with friends, and I always lost. They always knew whether I had a good hand or a bad hand. So I think if I am a traitor, this could be the first time a traitor is outed at the first roundtable.”

Also taking part is singer Cat Burns, who said she did not mind being a faithful or a traitor.

The 25-year-old Go singer said: “I think I’m good at reading people, but that comes from just being an observer. And I think being neurodivergent I have a tendency to have that approach in social situations, watching people more than speaking.”

She continued: “My strategy, if I am a traitor, would be to just try and go under the radar, not draw too much attention to myself, but also give out names of people who I think could be traitors.

“I think you run a risk if you don’t say anybody’s name at all of arousing suspicion. If I am a faithful, I think I will just try and observe without looking weird, because I’m a massive observer.

“I stare at people anyway, so I’d need to figure out a way to stare at people when they don’t know that I’m staring at them.

“I think that would be my best way of working out what game a person might be playing, observing people’s mannerisms and stuff, try to suss out whether they’re a bit nervous or they’re up to something.”

The show, presented by Claudia Winkleman, sees contestants try to detect the traitors in the group while completing a series of challenges to win funds to contribute towards the prize pot.

If at the end of the series a traitor is left among the finalists, the faithfuls, those who are not traitors, lose out on the money and the traitor wins the full prize.

The Celebrity Traitors launches on Wednesday, October 8 at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer, from then on there will be two episodes per week on Wednesdays and Thursdays.